Episode Three: Comments and reflections

[Daniel Pier]

Hello colleagues, 

I see a few of you have already posted about episode three on the main comment. That's great; no need to re-post here.

A few questions on episode three: How familiar were you already with Bloom's taxonomy? Do you find it useful for planning classes and thinking about how to make sure your pupils are going beyond rote memorization? Thinking over your teaching in the past, how frequently would you say you have encouraged your pupils to use the thinking skills at the higher end of Bloom's taxonomy? Let us know in this string!

The next episodes will explore several ways to encourage students to do that kind of thinking. 

Warm regards, 

Dan 

 

[Glenda Morales de Duchicela]

Great thoughts from all of you. I have worked with Bloom`s Taxonomy but I have been focusing on   the lower levels; sometimes because planning time was short, also I needed to have more advice and practice on how to connect the questions to the higher Bloom`s taxonomy levels. It is a great experience listening to the audios, taking notes of ideas in order to motivate the students to think out of the box, be creative!

I am planning to work this semester on critical thinking, utilize well constructed questions to take the students to higher levels of critical thinking. These last days I have been using techniques learned in the audios and  they make a great differente in challenging students to "think critically"  They are great!!

It is a great idea if we all share lesson plans to increase our ideas and give feedback, too.

[Gale Mohammed-Oxley]

Glenda,

You need to address CT in your objectives when planning your lessons. Begin with low then move to high as you go through the lesson. If it is a concept lesson you take your time and do the movement. If possible do not give too many examples or homework. Next day you return to the same lesson and reinforce the lesson while increasing the objective to the higher level.

As teachers we tend to plan for the exam forgetting we are teaching people of different learning styles. Taking this into consideration you need to plan your week's lesson in parts like a building. Try this and let me know how you succeed.

Gale

Glenda Morales de Duchicela said:

Great thoughts from all of you. I have worked with Bloom`s Taxonomy but I have been focusing on   the lower levels; sometimes because planning time was short, also I needed to have more advice and practice on how to connect the questions to the higher Bloom`s taxonomy levels. It is a great experience listening to the audios, taking notes of ideas in order to motivate the students to think out of the box, be creative!

I am planning to work this semester on critical thinking, utilize well constructed questions to take the students to higher levels of critical thinking. These last days I have been using techniques learned in the audios and  they make a great differente in challenging students to "think critically"  They are great!!

It is a great idea if we all share lesson plans to increase our ideas and give feedback, too.

[Glenda Morales de Duchicela]

Thanks Gale for your thoughts. You are right, it takes times; some lessons have been planned with high CT levels but with the amount of activities and homework we have to send, I have not put activities in order but as you said less homework,  better planning and it takes time. I feel I am I am getting there!!! thanks Gale.

[joann neaves]

I was very much aware of Bloom,s taxonomy as it is something that we expose our learners to.  What was really interesting is the way in which the levels were connected to objectives, questions and activities.  I think one of the reasons why our students were not being taught to think critically is because we have not really been making these connections.  While I very much encourage my learners to think critically, I do think I need to update my method in terms of making it more connected with learning objectives, questions and activities.

[Glenda Morales de Duchicela]

You are right Joann, even though we have been using the BT and helping students to think critically we need to connect the BT to the objectives and it is practice. Great information.

[Tracey GSE Little]

I am quite familiar with Bloom's Taxonomy, which is not to say that I do not sit with the list of verbs to ensure that the higher order thinking verbs are effectively used.  Because of my specific line of work, I choose to not allow the students to become comfortable with regurgitation and rote memorization and puposefully design questions that encourage the development of their critical thinking skills.  Some of these opportunities also present themselves incidentally, in working with the students while in the midst of the lesson/activity/discussion.  Transitioning from the lower to the higher order thinking skills does not always go as smoothly as I would like, so this is something that I am always reflecting upon.  

[Daniel Pier]

Dear Glenda,

Thank you very much for mentioning the idea about sharing lesson plans. Other teachers in the community have also suggested this, and ITEN is responding by developing a website connected to the community that is designed specifically for this purpose. Teachers will be able to upload lesson plans, indicating subject, grade level, skills taught, etc. ITEN will review and approve submissions and then share them, allowing other teachers to search the database, read or download lesson plans, offer feedback, rate the lesson plans, and more. We expect the system to be operational some time in 2017 and will provide more information as the tool is developed. In the meantime, you can share lesson plans on the community, too.

Glenda Morales de Duchicela said:

Great thoughts from all of you. I have worked with Bloom`s Taxonomy but I have been focusing on   the lower levels; sometimes because planning time was short, also I needed to have more advice and practice on how to connect the questions to the higher Bloom`s taxonomy levels. It is a great experience listening to the audios, taking notes of ideas in order to motivate the students to think out of the box, be creative!

I am planning to work this semester on critical thinking, utilize well constructed questions to take the students to higher levels of critical thinking. These last days I have been using techniques learned in the audios and  they make a great differente in challenging students to "think critically"  They are great!!

It is a great idea if we all share lesson plans to increase our ideas and give feedback, too.

[Lerdon Barr]

It is rare that you find a teacher who does not know about Bloom's Taxonomy. It seems to be a natural part of teacher initiation.

I find it very useful in the classroom, because as the recording mentioned, it keeps the lesson focused for both the teacher and students.Sometimes, it is easy to get carried away with rote memorization, not because students can recall, means that they understand. I myself have fallen folly to this before. Thus, even though it takes much more time, energy and practice, I am a proponent of critical thinking. One way I try to ensure this, is staying away from writing notes for students. I engage them in discussions and activities then we write the notes together from what we learnt, or they do it on their own. Once the concept/essence of it is given, I can tell where they are. Those who are incapable of doing this, may need more explanation and practice. Has anyone used this strategy? What do you think about it?

[Lerdon Barr]

I plan to re-focus and make the connections as well Joanne. Good observation.
joann neaves said:

I was very much aware of Bloom,s taxonomy as it is something that we expose our learners to.  What was really interesting is the way in which the levels were connected to objectives, questions and activities.  I think one of the reasons why our students were not being taught to think critically is because we have not really been making these connections.  While I very much encourage my learners to think critically, I do think I need to update my method in terms of making it more connected with learning objectives, questions and activities.

[Imogene Howard]

In Episode 3, Bloom's Taxonomy was used to emphasize the promotion of critical thinking. This new step (the use of critical thinking) encourages discussion and brainstorming, sharing of ideas, developing plans, giving reasons and justifying answers, using puzzles, doing investigations and creating models.

The use of critical thinking is very essential but the greatest challenge is when you meet a group of students who don't want to participate in the process.

I have used Bloom's Taxonomy before, as a matter of fact, this model is one that teachers are expected and encouraged to used frequently in the classroom. However, I try to use it from time to time in my classes but a challenge I have is that when a set of students come from a teacher who just used demonstration or the teacher just shows what to do, it becomes difficult to get students to start to think on their own.

I appreciate the use of Mathematics into the lessen because many teachers are afraid of and ignore Mathematics all the time. That was very innovative.